Novels: finding literary reviews and criticism

Reviews of books using current and historic sources, online and in print.

Journals

Keep in mind that most book reviews are about literary novels rather than popular novels and many books are not reviewed. Well known or popular novelists, or literary prizewinners, are more likely to have their work reviewed in journals, newspapers and books. 

Publications such as Library Journal and Publisher's Weekly publish the largest collection of reviews on books published in the U.S.A., including popular and genre novels, however the reviews are usually brief.

These journals are also available online through the Library catalogue. Registered Victorian users can access these outside the Library.

To find books of similar types try some of the following:

Genreflecting : a guide to reading interests in genre fiction by Betty Rosenberg

The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction by Joyce Saricks

Fiction connection

Looking for a novel but don't have an author or title? Fiction Connection is a fun way to search for popular fiction on all sorts of themes. You can search by genre, topic, time period, geographic location, type of character, name of character and even occupation.

Choose the reading level: adult, young adult or children. Each novel has a brief description and short reviews. There is a huge choice of novels.

Once you have read the review, check the catalogue to see if we have it, or ask a librarian to help you find a library location. Many of these books will be for sale in bookshops or on the Internet. 

You can use Fiction connection within the Library. You can also access it outside the Library if you are a Victorian registered user.

Specific genres

Try searching the catalogue for books about specific genres.

For instance try the following searches on the Library catalogue:

detective fiction criticism

crime in literature

science fiction criticism

fantasy fiction criticism